A Virginia man admitted in court Monday that he dismembered his wife’s body and disposed of it in the trash, but claims he didn’t kill her—she died by suicide and he panicked.
Naresh Bhatt, 39, testified for the third time in his murder trial in Manassas, maintaining that he found 28-year-old Mamta Kafle Bhatt already dead on July 30, 2024. Instead of calling police, he said he tried to revive her, then cut up her body and threw it away. The defense rested its case after his testimony.
From Missing Person to Murder Charge
Mamta Kafle Bhatt, a nurse and mother to the couple’s now 3-year-old daughter, disappeared last summer. Naresh Bhatt initially claimed he had no idea where she’d gone. He later changed his story, saying she committed suicide by ingesting pills and poison, and he found her lifeless in a pool of vomit.
“I feel like one way or the other, I was one of the factors leading to suicide,” Bhatt told the jury. “Out of many other factors, I’m one of the factors, despite mental health or postpartum, whatever.”
Prosecutors charged him with murder, concealing a body, and defiling a body. His wife’s remains have not been recovered.
The Panic Defense
Bhatt described his state of mind when he says he discovered his wife’s body. Rather than seek help or call 911, he made what he characterized as unsuccessful attempts to revive her. Then, fearing the consequences, he made a different choice entirely—one that prosecutors argue demonstrates consciousness of guilt rather than the panicked reaction of an innocent man.
The case now moves to closing arguments, where prosecutors will have to convince jurors that Bhatt’s shifting stories and disposal of his wife’s body point to murder, not the aftermath of suicide. The defense will argue that even reprehensible conduct after death doesn’t prove he caused it.
For the couple’s young daughter, the trial offers no good outcome—only the possibility that a jury will determine what really happened to her mother.
Key Points
- Naresh Bhatt testified he found wife Mamta Kafle Bhatt dead from apparent suicide, then dismembered and disposed of her body
- He initially told investigators he didn’t know where she went before changing his story to claim she killed herself
- Defense rested after his third time on the witness stand; case now heads to closing arguments with wife’s body still missing
https://www.courthousenews.com/murder-suspect-takes-stand-defense-rests-case-in-trial-of-man-accused-of-murdering-dismembering-wife/ – November 10, 2026
